South American airline issues alert on former Guantanamo detainee

The alert is about Syrian native Abu Wa'el Dhiab, whose whereabouts are currently unknown

Abu Wa’el Dhiab, from Syria, and Adel bin Muhammad El Ouerghi, of Tunisia, both freed Guantanamo Bay detainees, stand next to the window of their shared home in Montevideo, Uruguay. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico, File)

A South American airline is asking its employees to be on the lookout for a former Guantanamo Bay detainee who was resettled in Uruguay.

The alert about Syrian native Abu Wa’el Dhiab adds to a growing mystery about his whereabouts. Uruguayan authorities have insisted for weeks that he is visiting neighboring Brazil and that as a refugee he is entitled to leave Uruguay, but the Brazilian government has said there is no record of Dhiab entering the country.

Danilo Alves, a spokesman for Colombia-based Avianca Airlines in Sao Paulo, told The Associated Press on Monday that the alert was issued internally to employees but declined to give any more details.

The alert, published by the Argentine web news portal Infobae, warns employees that Dhiab may be using a fake passport. It also notes that Dhiab uses crutches to walk.

Dhiab is one of six former Guantanamo detainees resettled in Uruguay in late 2014.

Then President Jose Mujica invited them as a humanitarian gesture, but for several of the men, their time in Uruguay has been fraught with problems. They initially complained the government wasn’t helping them enough and they also refused to get jobs, drawing criticism from Uruguayans.

Dhiab, who suffers several health problems related to hunger strikes he undertook while held at the U.S. military’s Guantanamo base on Cuba, has been particularly vocal about his unhappiness in Uruguay.

Several weeks ago, Uruguayan media began reporting that he had left the country. Government officials said he had traveled to Brazil and insisted he had a right to do so. They said he had not broken any law and was not being sought.

However, last week the U.S. Embassy in Uruguay said American authorities were “collaborating” with Brazilian and Uruguayan authorities to locate Dhiab.